TV and radio stations for Universidad Estatal a DistanciaLawmaker wants more culture on nation's
airwaves

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Costa Rica needs a new educational television station and one for the
radio band, according to a legislator.

The
lawmaker, Jorge Eduardo Sánchez Sibaja, has proposed legislation
that would grant the Universidad Estatal a Distancia a television
and a radio
frequency so education and cultural events could be put on the air.

Sánchez happens to have extensive experience in audio visuals
working
with the state university and says that the production equipment is
available but that the law creating the educational entity did not
grant it frequencies on which to operate.

The proposed legislation would tell the Ministerio de
Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública to

grant an FM radio
frequency and either a
VHF or a UHF television slot.

Costa Rica already has the Sistema Nacional de Radio y
Televisión,
which is supposed to be responsible for some cultural programming. The
proposed legislation would allow some efforts between the two entities
in production and programming, at least while the new stations get off
the ground.

Sánchez is a legislator from the Partido Unidad Social
Cristiana, which
has few members in the Asamblea Legislativa.

However, one of the
campaign promises of current President Óscar Arias
Sánchez was to
strengthen the Sistema Nacional de Radio y Televisión and
cultural
programming in general, which he said should not be relegated to
"Siberia."

The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional said Monday that weather
conditions are about to return to normal. That still means rain but not
to the degree of the storms that hit the Pacific and the Nicoya
Peninsula over the weekend.

The winds and low pressure that existed last week are leaving, the
weather experts said.

They also promised that the anticipated rain would be light and that it
would dissipate in the early hours of the morning. For today, the
weather institute is predicting a partly cloudy morning.

Meanwhile about 1,000 persons in the south of the country have water
problems, thanks to the weekend storm. This is in La California
and Tierras Morenas in the Canton de Pérez Zeledón.

The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y
Atención de Emergencias said that the storm damaged at least
five bridges and affected at least 42 communities.

One bridge, that over the Río Mala Noche at Torito between
Carrillo and Sámara on the Pacific coast of the Nicoya
Peninsula, collapsed as a result of the storm. The commission has
approved the construction of a detour and the Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transporte is studying reconstructing the bridge.

Daniel Gallardo, commisison president, inspected the damage Monday. He
said that all over the country some 200 commission employees were at
work and some 50 machines were clearing the way.

A few people were reported still in a shelter at Carrillo. Work also
will have to be done on the storm drainage on the Nicoya-Sámara
road, said the commission.

New tour firm targets
boomer generation

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A new retirement tour business has opened targeting baby boomers, the
post World War II generation that is reaching the end of their working
years. It is no coincidence that the business is named Boomers in Costa
Rica Tours.

San Ramon-based ex-pats Alexandre Race, formerly of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, and Andrew Mastrandonas, formerly of Washington, D.C. are the
principals.

The company joins a field of at least a half dozen firms providing
similar services.

"Our tour is different from the other retirement tours of Costa Rica
because we also focus on business opportunities geared to younger baby
boomers who may be moving here to invest, start a new business, and
lead a simplier life, while continuing to be active," said the
owners. "We also provide to each tour client a jam-packed CD
containing a wealth of information on moving here, obtaining residency,
building a home, and much more."

Mastrandonas, a former airline industry executive, also runs a bed and
breakfast, Angel Valley Farm B&B, in Los Angeles Sur, near San
Ramón. Ms. Race moved to Costa Rica with her husband
Davide, after a successful career in the U.S. which included small
business ownership and experience in technology and investment
management, said a release on the new business.

Each day someone complains via e-mail that the newspages are from
yesterday or the day before. A.M. Costa Rica staffers check every page
and every link when the newspaper is made available at 2 a.m. each
week day.

So the problem is with the browser in each reader's computer.
Particularly when the connection with the server is slow, a
computer will look to the latest page in its internal memory and serve
up that page.

Readers should refresh the page and, if necessary, dump the cache of
their computer, if this problem persists. Readers in Costa Rica have
this problem frequently because the local Internet provider has
continual problems.

Searching

The A.M. Costa Rica search page
has a list of all previous editions by date and a space to search for
specific words and phrases. The search will return links to archived
pages.

Newspages

A typical edition will consist of a front page and three other
newspages. Sometimes there will be four additional newspages. Each of
these pages can be reached by links near the top and bottom of the
pages.

A.M. Costa Rica makes its monthly statistics available to advertisers
and readers. It is HERE!

The statistics page also shows where A.M. Costa Rica ranks in visitors
among all the Web pages in the world.

Contacting us

Both the main telephone number and the editor's e-mail address are
listed on the front
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Visiting us

Directions to our office and other data, like bank account numbers are
on the about
us page.

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Directory

A.M.
Costa Rica's professional directory
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people who wish to reach the English-speaking community may invite
responses.
If you are interested in being represented here, please contact the
editor.

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The Arias government moved closer Monday to firing recalcitrant dock
workers in Limón.

Marco Vargas, minister of Coordinación Interinstitucional, said
that a judge has declared the job action by dock workers to be illegal.
The decision came from a judge of the the Juzgado de Trabajo del Primer Circuito
Judicial de la Zona Atlántica.

Dock workers at Limón and Moín have been staging a job
action since Sept. 25. First they wanted money the government owed
them. Then they demanded that President Óscar Arias
Sánchez promise that he will not seek to lease the docks as a
concession.

The government leased the Caldera docks on the Pacific as a concession
on the condition that the private concessionaire make major
improvements. The government does not have the money to make needed
upgrades.

Vargas said that the hearing on the legality of the job actions —
mainly continual slowdowns — was instigated by Wálter Robinson,
executive president of the Junta de Administración
Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente
Atlántica against the union representing dock workers.

The legal decision said that the job action affects an important public
service.

"This decision is congruent with the
position of the administration in not permitting the indispensable
services for the national economic development to be affected," said
Rodrigo Arias, the minister of the Presidencia. He said the landscape
had changed and officials would meet with Robinson to discuss the next
step.

Meanwhile, the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo weighed in with a
warning that job actions by dock workers which might grow to a strike
Wednesday could have serious repercussions on the tourism business
linked to cruise ships, which dock in Limón.

Carlos Ricardo Benavides,
minister of
Turismo, called on the union not to affect the arrival of the passenger
ships. He said the Carnival Victory was due Wednesday, the Amsterdam on
Friday and the Coral Princess on Saturday. He said each brings an
average of some 1,500 tourists. If there is a strike, the ship officers
might skip the stop, he said.

Agricultural producers already report that they have lost millions due
to the job actions at the docks. Arias sent the Fuerza Pública
in to control the docks early Sept. 28,
but the administration stopped short of bringing in foreign strike
breakers to run the machinery.

Dock workers have joined forces with the anti-free trade demonstrations
around the country because they see the treaty as promoting
concessions. In fact, the Caldera concession was developed under
national laws.

Geovani González, ICE worker. . . with knife representing treaty

Laura Jimenez and Johan Swett. . . frog makes a rude gesture

Teresa Aguero, 75. . . loves Costa Rica more than cash

Anti-trade treaty strike fails to draw extensive support

By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff

A protest march against the free trade treaty Monday drew fewer
participants than earlier demonstrations, and coordinators hope to do
better today.

Despite threats from opponents to the treaty, most public offices
functioned with a degree of normality. Not counting marches roads were
not blocked except in a few areas outside San José.
Teachers averaged about 31 percent participation in the so-called
general strike, according to a Casa Presidencial survey. And the bulk
of hospital employees stayed on the job.

Still, there were demonstrations throughout the country, but the march
to the Asamblea Legislativa in San José was by far the biggest.
Reporters estimated participation at about 3,000 persons. Organizers
said up to 10,000.

Some marchers blamed what they called a coordinated campaign by
President Óscar Arias Sánchez and his staff to frustrate
the general strike. Rodrigo Arias Sánchez, the president's
brother and minister of the Presidencia, was the principal spokesman.
Last week the administration warned that strikers would not be paid
their salary for the days they missed.

In addition, Arias embarked on a publicity campaign stressing dialog
instead of street demonstrations. And the security minister ordered
officers into the street without their guns as a show of support for a
peaceful demonstration.

Officials reported only one incident that marred the peaceful tone of
the march. Near the Universidad de Costa Rica youngsters wearing ski
masks made menacing moves toward a Channel 6 news crew, but march
leaders called them off. Some youngsters continued to wear masks and
bandannas.

A fist fight between two men took place during the march on Avenida 2,
but officials did not report that, and the reason for the fight could
not be learned.

Brief road blockages were reported in San Carlos and in Río
Cañas. The Interamerican highway was reported to have been
blocked briefly.

In a midday press conference Rodrigo Arias said that the goal of the
marchers was to cause the government to withdraw the free trade
treaty from consideration in the legislature. He said the Arias
administration would not do that.

Casa Presidencial said that a survey of hospitals showed that 198
employees had joined the strike. The absences

ranged from one person in Hospital Monseñor
Sanabria in Puntarenas to 75 at Hospital Calderón Guardia in San
José.
Hospital officials said their institutions were working with at least
90 percent efficiency and the predicted delays in surgeries,
examinations and distribution of medicines did not take place.

The school survey showed that strike participation reached 60 percent
at institutions in Cartago and 4.5 percent in Cañas. In all,
1,211
teachers were reported on strike, some 31 percent of the primary and
secondary workforce.

Albino Vargas and his
Asociación Nacional
de Empleados Públicos y Privados put on a happy face in the
association
Web page. They called their effort democracy in the street.

Photos by
José Pablo Ramírez Vindas

Observers said that the bulk of the San José marchers were from
the
union headed by Vargas, the union of the Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad, that of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros and that of the
Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz. Employees at all of
these public
institutions feel threatened by the possibility that the free trade
treaty will eliminate their monopolies.

One, Alfredo Cambronero Ramírez, a member of the union
representing
insurance institute workers, told reporters that he was at the assembly
building so that Arias would listen. Arias only won election by a
few
votes, he said, and that not only would he be signing the free trade
treaty but so would the Costa Rican people. Arias won Feb. 5 by a bit
more than 1 percent of the vote. One of his principal campaign promises
was to get the free trade treaty passed.

Radiográfica
Costarricense S.A., the
domestic Internet provider, did not participate in the strike. Electric
company workers put up a small picket line, but the agency known as
RACSA was open for business all day.

Vargas said the protest would continue today with a rally at 9 a.m. in
Parque Central and another march to the legislature.

The treaty still is in committee at the legislative assembly. The
Partido Acción Ciudadanas, which opposes the agreement, wants to
continue hearings with members of the public, but the Partido
Liberación Nacional, the party of Arias, and other treaty
supporters
want to bring it to the floor for internal debate.

In addition to the United States, the treaty involves Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. All have
signed the document. Only Costa Rica has not ratified it.

Marchers still cover much of
Avenida 2, but they are more spread out than in previous demonstrations.

I can’t tell you how much sadness I felt when I read your article on
“Protest ground rule for the expats” published today. In my
opinion, it was extremely biased and unrespectful for me, a Costa
Rican. Making fun of a critical situation for Costa Rica
like CAFTA and public demonstration of ideas is not good.

How come can you say students from universities can be
communists-in-training? “Marchers are in good mood, don’t hesitate to
take photos...but they should obey police orders?” What are they,
monkeys? Shall you recommend them to have a one-on-one with
marchers, so that they can see their diverse perspectives to grow
culturally?

As a former student of the Universidad de Costa Rica and a current
employee of an American company — which I admire — I think they have
the right to express their ideas, specially in such a creative way
they’re doing now by integrating arts.

Is that the picture of social democracy of Costa Rica you show to the
expats and tourists in your newspaper?

Paul Vargas
Costa Rican

Nicoya’s east coast cited
as best weather here

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

About a quarter of a North American’s annual income is spent on leisure
time, commodities and services, a truly significant amount. A
substantial portion this discretionary, disposable income is devoted to
boating and exploring outside North America.

North America’s winter is Costa Rica’s summer, with warm sunshine,
December through May, on the Nicoya Peninsula’s gulf side. During
the June – November period, precipitation occurs, starting around
nightfall. The days are generally sunny.

In my opinion the peninsula’s gulf side enjoys the best sea level area
weather available in Central America. It should also be
noted there is no history of a hurricane ever hitting Costa
Rica. The small country with both Pacific and Atlantic side coastlines
has great variety from sea level to mountain attractions, numerous
parks, preserves and reserves occupy approximately 25 percent of Costa
Rica’s total land mass.

My comments are based on my 15 years of experience with Costa Rica,
plus many additional years of visits to all of the countries south of
the U.S. border except Paraguay.

More & more tourists visit this stable democracy, many to return
and establish permanent residency here. The literacy rate is above that
of the U.S.A., and the life expectancy is higher.

Is there something to complain about? Yes, the roads. Maintenance
has been poor, and many are in need of repair. However, the roads
go practically everywhere, as distinguished from many Central and South
American countries.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Arias, recently elected president,
is expected to further improve a number of programs further benefiting
Costa Rica and visitors.

George Perrochete
Nicoya Peninsula

Some trade treaty fears
just don’t make sense

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Please help me out in understanding some of the things relating to the
TLC (The North American Trade Agreement).

I do understand that ICE wants to remain a government monopoly along
with INS because the employees are afraid of loosing their cushy job
and benefits. And that the dock workers (where some say it take three
people to operate a broom) are fighting private concessions.

But why are the school teachers and medical personnel fighting? Are
they afraid that school teacher and doctors will come in and compete
for the Costa Rican salaries in these professions?

I guess maybe as an ex-pat living here we would be better off without
TLC. We wouldn’t have to worry about Costa Rica competing with the rest
of Central America. The economy would remain the same or decline and
the prices would be about the same as they are now except for imported
good, and we could enjoy a sleepy Third World existence.

And maybe some of the Ticos who wanted a better life could sneak into
Nicaragua or Salvador and look for work in construction or as
domestics. After all the Nica and Salvadorian economy will be
improving. They joined CAFTA.

Doug Gesler

Sabana Oeste

U.S.
Bush administration
a smokescreen of lies

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Treadway of Esterillo Oeste is far off-base. “Some evidence may have
been erroneous,” as he says, is a forced -acknowledgment there were no
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The U.S’s own experts determined
no such weapons existed. (Perhaps Treadway should share his
evidence
with them.)

Indeed, “curveball”-based “evidence” was seized on to justify a
pre-determined decision to invade — regardless. A smokescreen of
lies
and deception was used to justify the invasion. Any evidence to
the
contrary, including the number of troops needed, was dismissed — along
with the top army general who made the troop-estimate — by the
war-seeking fanatics who had their own agendas.

In Grenada, Reagan had a clear goal, sent in the forces needed to do
the job, declared “mission accomplished” — when it really was,
unlike
the present Reagan-wannabe — and got out.

As for N. Korea, its neighbors most effected — and who best
understand
the issues and personalities involved — have long pushed the U.S. to
have direct talks. But this administration will only talk to
friends.
Even James Baker — long a Bush family consigliere — has said it’s
past-time to talk to the other side. But insecure, swaggering people
who want to be seen as ‘”tough” see it as a weakness.
(At least ‘till the elections are over)

If the U.N. is so bad why was Bush overheard on an open mike in Russia
saying he hoped Kofi Annan would do something about Hezbollah, and why
does the administration, with its credibility shredded, now seek to
wrap itself in the U.N. mantle?

There must be something in the air at Esterillo Oeste.

Carl Robbins
Atlanta and Alajuela.

Iraq was cheating
on ceasefire pact

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Bravo for Mr. Treadway. One thing that he neglected to mention was the
cease-fire agreement following the first Gulf War.

At the completion of the first Gulf War, agents of the Iraqi government
signed a ceasefire agreement which stipulated things such as no-fly
zones and what arms the Iraqi army was allowed to have in their
inventory.

Basically, the coalition agreed to stop attacking the Iraqi military if
the Iraqi military agreed to the terms. If the Iraqi military
broke
the terms, the U. S. could begin attacking once more.

Weapons found in the Iraqi military inventory in the second Gulf War
were in direct violation of the cease-fire agreement from the first
Gulf War because they had ranges greater than those permitted by the
cease-fire agreement.

This makes the weapons of mass destruction issue a moot one.

Even though there were no nukes, weapons of mass destruction, or
terrorist links found, the Iraqi military was in direct violation of
the cease-fire agreement that they signed.

What would have happened if Japan or Germany violated their terms of
surrender after World War II and started building up their
military?
You can bet bombs would have started falling on them once more.
An
agreement is an agreement.

The Deportivo Saprissa will be going to Santa Bárbara Sunday for
an 11 a.m. game with Carmelita.

The team physician, Willy Gálvez, reports no injuries as a
result of the last game with Pérez Zeledón. Only Gabriel

Badilla remains in treatment.

The team also is seeking to change the date and time of their game
with Santos de Guapiles. The game is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m,
but efforts are being made to change the time to Sunday at 11 a.m.
The encounter will be in the Estadio Saprissa.

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